Out-of-band radio for supporting compressed mode in a femto deployment

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, devices, and computer program products are described for using communications over an out-of-band (OOB) link to support compressed mode communications by user equipment (UE) in a femto deployment. Typically, UEs must tune away from an active communications channel to make inter-frequency and/or inter-RAT measurements. When making these measurements, data communications may be compressed to allow time to tune away for those measurements. Embodiments integrate an OOB proxy with the femtocell to provide OOB link capability to supplement WWAN link resources. According to various techniques, the OOB link is used to compensate for reductions in data rate and/or quality resulting from compressed mode operation. For example, the OOB link is used to communicate compressed mode signaling data, retransmissions, and/or other compensatory data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of Ser. No. 12/983,576filed Jan. 3, 2011, patent issued on Apr. 23, 2013, as U.S. Pat. No.842,975, entitled “OUT-OF-BAND RADIO FOR SUPPORTING COMPRESSED MODE IN AFEMTO DEPLOYMENT” and claims the benefit thereto. The entirety of theaforementioned application is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Information communication provided by various forms of networks is inwide use in the world today. Networks having multiple nodes incommunication using wireless and wireline links are used, for example,to carry voice and/or data. The nodes of such networks may be computers,personal digital assistants (PDAs), phones, servers, routers, switches,multiplexers, modems, radios, access points, base stations, etc. Manyclient device nodes (referred to herein as user equipment (UE)), such ascellular phones, PDAs, laptop computers, etc. are mobile and thus mayconnect with a network through a number of different interfaces.

Mobile client devices may connect with a network wirelessly via a basestation, access point, wireless router, etc. (collectively referred toherein as access points). A mobile client device may remain within theservice area of such an access point for a relatively long period oftime (referred to as being “camped on” the access point) or may travelrelatively rapidly through access point service areas, with cellularhandoff or reselection techniques being used for maintaining acommunication session or for idle mode operation as association withaccess points is changed.

Issues with respect to available spectrum, bandwidth, capacity, etc. mayresult in a network interface being unavailable or inadequate between aparticular client device and access point. Moreover, issues with respectto wireless signal propagation, such as shadowing, multipath fading,interference, etc. may result in a network interface being unavailableor inadequate between a particular client device and access point.

Cellular networks have employed the use of various cell types, such asmacrocells, microcells, picocells, and femtocells, to provide desiredbandwidth, capacity, and wireless communication coverage within serviceareas. For example, the use of femtocells is often desirable to providewireless communication in areas of poor network coverage (e.g., insideof buildings), to provide increased network capacity, to utilizebroadband network capacity for backhaul, etc.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for usingcommunications over an out-of-band (OOB) link to support compressed modecommunications by user equipment (UE) in a femto deployment. Typically,UEs must tune away from an active communications channel to makeinter-frequency and/or inter-RAT measurements. When making thesemeasurements, data communications may be compressed to allow time totune away for those measurements. Embodiments integrate an OOB proxywith the femtocell to provide OOB link capability to supplement WWANlink resources. According to various techniques, the OOB link is used tocompensate for reductions in data rate and/or quality resulting fromcompressed mode operation. For example, the OOB link is used tocommunicate compressed mode signaling data, retransmissions, and/orother compensatory data.

An exemplary method includes: detecting a measurement trigger conditionwith user equipment while the user equipment is communicating with afemtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWANchannel according to a first communications mode at a data rate insatisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of aquality target; and switching the user equipment to communicateaccording to a second communications mode in response to detecting themeasurement trigger. Communicating according to the secondcommunications mode includes: interspersing measurement blocks with dataframes, such that the user equipment communicates with the femtocellover the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel during the data frames andperforms measurements on at least a second WWAN channel during themeasurement blocks; compressing communications with the femtocell overthe WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of thedata rate or the data quality; and communicating supplemental databetween the user equipment and an out-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy over anOOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with thefemtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplementaldata at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of thedata rate or the data quality.

According to certain configurations, the femtocell and the OOBfemto-proxy are integrated with each other as part of a femto-proxysystem. Additionally or alternatively, the second WWAN channel is aninter-frequency neighbor or an inter-RAT (radio access technology)neighbor of the first WWAN channel. Additionally or alternatively, theOOB link is a Bluetooth link.

According to some such methods, communicating according to the secondcommunications mode further includes generating signaling dataconfigured to facilitate communications by the user equipment accordingto the second mode; and communicating the supplemental data between theuser equipment and the OOB femto-proxy over the OOB link includescommunicating at least some of the signaling data over the OOB link.

According to other such methods, the user equipment communicates datawith the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel, thedata having a payload portion and a redundancy portion configured tosatisfy the quality target; compressing communications with thefemtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel includes reducingthe data quality by reducing the redundancy portion of the data; andcommunicating the supplemental data between the user equipment and theOOB femto-proxy over the OOB link includes communicating retransmissionsover the OOB link to at least partially compensate for the reducing ofthe data quality (e.g., without substantially increasing instantaneoustransmit power associated with the WWAN link).

According to still other such methods, communicating according to thesecond communications mode further includes generating signaling dataconfigured to facilitate communications by the user equipment accordingto the second mode; and communicating the supplemental data between theuser equipment and the OOB femto-proxy over the OOB link furtherincludes communicating at least some of the signaling data over the OOBlink. According to even other such methods, communicating according tothe first communications mode includes communicating data with thefemtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel during the dataframes, each data frame having a first duration; and communicatingaccording to the second communications mode includes communicating datawith the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel duringthe data frames, each data frame having a second duration that isshorter than the first duration.

According to yet other such methods, compressing communications with thefemtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel includes reducingthe data rate by communicating data with the femtocell only during thedata frames and without substantially changing the data quality, suchthat only a first portion of the data can be communicated over the WWANlink; and communicating the supplemental data between the user equipmentand the OOB femto-proxy over the OOB link includes communicating aremaining portion of the data over the OOB link to at least partiallycompensate for the reducing of the data rate. Additionally oralternatively, the remaining portion of the data is communicated overthe OOB link only during the measurement blocks. Additionally oralternatively, communicating according to the second communications modefurther includes generating signaling data configured to facilitatecommunications by the user equipment according to the second mode; andcommunicating the supplemental data between the user equipment and theOOB femto-proxy over the OOB link further includes communicating atleast some of the signaling data over the OOB link.

An exemplary user equipment includes: an in-band communicationssubsystem configured to communicatively couple with a femtocell over awireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel and tocommunicate with at least one macrocell over the WWAN link on a secondWWAN channel; an out-of-band (OOB) communications subsystem configuredto communicatively couple with an OOB femto-proxy over an OOB link; anda communications management subsystem, communicatively coupled with thein-band communications subsystem and the OOB communications subsystem,and configured to: detect a measurement trigger condition whilecommunicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWANchannel according to a first communications mode at a data rate insatisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of aquality target; and direct the in-band communications subsystem and theOOB communications subsystem to communicate according to a secondcommunications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger.Communicating according to the second communications mode includes:interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such thatcommunications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWANchannel occur during the data frames and measurements are performed onat least the second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on thefirst WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the dataquality; and communicating supplemental data with the OOB femto-proxyover the OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with thefemtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplementaldata at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of thedata rate or the data quality.

An exemplary processor includes: an in-band communications controllerconfigured to communicatively couple with a femtocell over a wirelesswide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel and to communicatewith at least one macrocell over the WWAN link on a second WWAN channel;an out-of-band (OOB) communications controller configured tocommunicatively couple with an OOB femto-proxy over an OOB link; and

a communications management controller, communicatively coupled with thein-band communications subsystem and the OOB communications subsystem,and configured to: detect a measurement trigger condition whilecommunicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWANchannel according to a first communications mode at a data rate insatisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of aquality target; and direct the in-band communications controller and theOOB communications controller to communicate according to a secondcommunications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger.Communicating according to the second communications mode includes:interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such thatcommunications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWANchannel occur during the data frames and measurements are performed onat least the second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on thefirst WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the dataquality; and communicating supplemental data with the OOB femto-proxyover the OOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with thefemtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplementaldata at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of thedata rate or the data quality.

An exemplary computer program product residing on a processor-readablemedium has processor-readable instructions, which, when executed, causea processor to perform steps including: detecting a measurement triggercondition with user equipment while the user equipment is communicatingwith a femtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on afirst WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at a datarate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality insatisfaction of a quality target; and switching the user equipment tocommunicate according to a second communications mode in response todetecting the measurement trigger. Communicating according to the secondcommunications mode includes: interspersing measurement blocks with dataframes, such that the user equipment communicates with the femtocellover the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel during the data frames andperforms measurements on at least a second WWAN channel during themeasurement blocks; compressing communications with the femtocell overthe WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of thedata rate or the data quality; and communicating supplemental databetween the user equipment and an out-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy over anOOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with thefemtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplementaldata at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of thedata rate or the data quality.

Another exemplary system includes: means for communicating with afemtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWANchannel according to a first communications mode at a data rate insatisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of aquality target; means for detecting a measurement trigger conditionwhile the means for communicating is communicating according to thefirst communications mode; and means for directing the means forcommunicating to communicate according to a second communications modein response to detecting the measurement trigger. Communicatingaccording to the second communications mode includes: interspersingmeasurement blocks with data frames, such that the user equipmentcommunicates with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWANchannel during the data frames and performs measurements on at least asecond WWAN channel during the measurement blocks; compressingcommunications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWANchannel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality;and communicating supplemental data with an out-of-band (OOB)femto-proxy over an OOB link substantially concurrently withcommunicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such thatcommunicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates forthe reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.

An exemplary femto-proxy system includes: a femtocell, configured toprovide macro network access to a number of user equipment authorized toattach to the femtocell according to an access control list over awireless wide area network (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel; anout-of-band (OOB) communications subsystem, integrated with thefemtocell and configured to communicatively couple with the number ofuser equipment over an OOB link; and a communications managementsubsystem, communicatively coupled with the femtocell and the OOBcommunications subsystem, and configured to: detect a measurementtrigger condition for one of the user equipment that is in communicationwith the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channelaccording to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfactionof a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a qualitytarget; and direct the one of the user equipment to communicateaccording to a second communications mode in response to detecting themeasurement trigger. Communicating according to the secondcommunications mode includes: interspersing measurement blocks with dataframes, such that communications with the femtocell over the WWAN linkon the first WWAN channel occur during the data frames and measurementsare performed on at least the second WWAN channel during the measurementblocks; compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN linkon the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate orthe data quality; and communicating supplemental data with the OOBcommunications subsystem over the OOB link substantially concurrentlywith communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link, such thatcommunicating the supplemental data at least partially compensates forthe reducing at least one of the data rate or the data quality.

Another exemplary processor includes: a femtocell controller, configuredto direct a femtocell to provide macro network access to a number ofuser equipment authorized to attach to the femtocell according to anaccess control list over a wireless wide area network (WWAN) link on afirst WWAN channel; an out-of-band (OOB) communications controller,configured to direct an OOB radio integrated with the femtocell tocommunicatively couple with the number of user equipment over an OOBlink; and a communications management controller, communicativelycoupled with the femtocell controller and the OOB communicationscontroller, and configured to: detect a measurement trigger conditionfor one of the user equipment that is in communication with thefemtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel according to afirst communications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a ratetarget and at a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target; anddirect the one of the user equipment to communicate according to asecond communications mode in response to detecting the measurementtrigger. Communicating according to the second communications modeincludes: interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such thatcommunications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWANchannel occur during the data frames and measurements are performed onat least the second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on thefirst WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the dataquality; and communicating supplemental data with the OOB radio over theOOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with thefemtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplementaldata at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of thedata rate or the data quality.

Another computer program product residing on a processor-readable mediumhas processor-readable instructions, which, when executed, cause aprocessor to perform steps including: detecting a measurement triggercondition corresponding to a user equipment while the user equipment iscommunicating with a femtocell over a wireless wide area network (WWAN)link on a first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode ata data rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality insatisfaction of a quality target; and directing the user equipment tocommunicate according to a second communications mode in response todetecting the measurement trigger. Communicating according to the secondcommunications mode includes: interspersing measurement blocks with dataframes, such that the user equipment communicates with the femtocellover the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel during the data frames andperforms measurements on at least a second WWAN channel during themeasurement blocks; compressing communications with the femtocell overthe WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing at least one of thedata rate or the data quality; and communicating supplemental databetween the user equipment and an out-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy over anOOB link substantially concurrently with communicating with thefemtocell over the WWAN link, such that communicating the supplementaldata at least partially compensates for the reducing at least one of thedata rate or the data quality.

Another exemplary system includes: means for detecting a measurementtrigger condition corresponding to a user equipment while the userequipment is communicating with a femtocell over a wireless wide areanetwork (WWAN) link on a first WWAN channel according to a firstcommunications mode at a data rate in satisfaction of a rate target andat a data quality in satisfaction of a quality target; and means fordirecting the user equipment to communicate according to a secondcommunications mode in response to detecting the measurement trigger,communicating according to the second communications mode including:interspersing measurement blocks with data frames, such that the userequipment communicates with the femtocell over the WWAN link on thefirst WWAN channel during the data frames and performs measurements onat least a second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks;compressing communications with the femtocell over the WWAN link on thefirst WWAN channel by reducing at least one of the data rate or the dataquality; and communicating supplemental data between the user equipmentand an out-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy over an OOB link substantiallyconcurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link,such that communicating the supplemental data at least partiallycompensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the dataquality.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of examples according to disclosure in order that thedetailed description that follows may be better understood. Additionalfeatures and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conceptionand specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Features whichare believed to be characteristic of the concepts disclosed herein, bothas to their organization and method of operation, together withassociated advantages, will be better understood from the followingdescription when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.Each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration anddescription only and not as a definition of the limits of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of examplesprovided by the disclosure may be realized by reference to the remainingportions of the specification and the drawings wherein like referencenumerals are used throughout the several drawings to refer to similarcomponents. In some instances, a sub-label is associated with areference numeral to denote one of multiple similar components. Whenreference is made to a reference numeral without specification to anexisting sub-label, the reference numeral refers to all such similarcomponents.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communications system;

FIG. 2A shows a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communicationssystem that includes a femto-proxy system;

FIG. 2B shows a block diagram of an exemplary wireless communicationssystem that includes an architecture of a femto-proxy system that isdifferent from the architecture shown in FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 shows detail regarding an example of a femtocell architecture foran illustrative Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)network;

FIG. 4A shows a block diagram of an example of a mobile user equipmentfor use with the femto-proxy systems of FIGS. 2A and 2B in the contextof the communications systems and networks of FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 4B shows a block diagram of another configuration of a mobile userequipment for use with the femto-proxy systems of FIGS. 2A and 2B in thecontext of the communications systems and networks of FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for using multiplecommunications modes to support inter-frequency and/or inter-RATmeasurements;

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for using OOBcommunications to facilitate compressed mode operations;

FIG. 7A shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for using OOBcommunications to communicate signaling data in support of compressedmode operations;

FIG. 7B shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for using OOBcommunications to communicate retransmissions and/or similarsupplemental data in support of compressed mode operations;

FIG. 7C shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for using OOBcommunications to communicate portions of data not communicated over theWWAN link in support of compressed mode operations;

FIG. 8A shows a simplified communication diagram for data communicationsover a communications link in a non-compressed mode;

FIG. 8B shows a simplified communication diagram for data communicationsover a communications link in a compressed mode;

FIG. 9A shows a simplified communication diagram for data communicationsover a communications link in a compressed mode, where the OOB link isused for communication of retransmissions;

FIG. 9B shows a simplified communication diagram for data communicationsover a communications link in a compressed mode, where the OOB link isused for communication of remaining data not communicated over the WWANlink;

FIG. 9C shows a simplified communication diagram for data communicationsover a communications link in a compressed mode, where the OOB link isused for communication of signaling data; and

FIGS. 9D and 9E show simplified communication diagrams for datacommunications over a communications link in a compressed mode, wherethe OOB link is used for communication of combinations of supplementaldata.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for using anout-of-band (OOB) link to facilitate one or more compressed modes ofoperation of user equipment (UE) in a femto deployment. To make certainmeasurements (e.g., inter-frequency, inter-RAT, etc.), a UE typicallytunes away from its current frequency during measurement blocks, whichmay reduce resources available for data (i.e., non-measurement-related)communications. While various techniques are available for compressingdata communications, various factors limit the ability of thosetechniques to preserve desired data rates and/or data fidelities duringcompressed mode operation of the UE.

Accordingly, a femto-proxy system is provided including a femtocell andan out-of-band (OOB) proxy. The OOB proxy is used to establish an OOBlink with the UE which is used in one or more ways to compensate forimpacts of compressed mode operations on data rate and/or data fidelityby concurrently communicating one or more types of supplemental dataover the OOB link. In some embodiments, data blocks are compressed(e.g., by reducing redundancy communicated with each data block), andthe OOB link is used to communicate retransmissions and/or other similartypes of data. This may allow compression of data blocks withoutincreasing instantaneous transmit power, while substantially maintainingdata fidelity. In other embodiments, data blocks are not compressed,data is not communicated over the in-band link during measurementblocks, and the not communicated during the measurement blocks iscommunicated instead using the OOB link. In still other embodiments, theOOB link is used to communicate various types of signaling data tosupport compressed mode operations of the UE without using in-bandbandwidth for that data. Yet other embodiments include combinations ofmultiple of those techniques.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, andother systems. The terms “system” and “network” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such asCDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releases 0 and Aare commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) iscommonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD),etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. ATDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Global System forMobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA system may implement a radiotechnology such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA),IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc.UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System(UMTS). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are newreleases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, andGSM are described in documents from an organization named “3rdGeneration Partnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are describedin documents from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject 2” (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for thesystems and radio technologies mentioned above, as well as for othersystems and radio technologies.

Thus, the following description provides examples, and is not limitingof the scope, applicability, or configuration set forth in the claims.Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elementsdiscussed without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, the methods described may beperformed in an order different from that described, and variousoperations may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features describedwith respect to certain examples may be combined in other examples.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrates an example of awireless communications system 100. The system 100 includes transceiverstations (referred to herein as NodeBs 105), disposed in cells 110,mobile user equipment 115 (UE), and a base station controller (BSC) 120.It is worth noting that, while the term user equipment (UE) typicallydenotes UNIVERSAL MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM (UMTS) networks,similar functionality may be deployed in other types of networks viatheir corresponding network elements (e.g., mobile stations (MSs),access terminals (ATs), etc.) without departing from the scope of thedisclosure or the claims.

The system 100 may support operation on multiple carriers (waveformsignals of different frequencies). Multi-carrier transmitters cantransmit modulated signals simultaneously on the multiple carriers. Eachmodulated signal may be a CDMA signal, a TDMA signal, an OFDMA signal, aSC-FDMA signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be sent on a differentcarrier and may carry pilot, redundancy information, data, etc. Thesystem 100 may be a multi-carrier LTE network capable of efficientlyallocating network resources.

The NodeBs 105 can wirelessly communicate with the UEs 115 via a basestation antenna. The NodeBs 105 are configured to communicate with theUEs 115 under the control of the BSC 120 via multiple carriers. Each ofthe NodeBs 105 can provide communication coverage for a respectivegeographic area, here the cell 110-a, 110-b, or 110-c. The system 100may include NodeBs 105 of different types, e.g., macro, pico, and/orfemto base stations.

The UEs 115 can be dispersed throughout the cells 110. The UEs 115 maybe referred to as mobile stations, mobile devices, or subscriber units.The UEs 115 here include cellular phones and a wireless communicationdevice, but can also include personal digital assistants (PDAs), otherhandheld devices, netbooks, notebook computers, etc.

For the discussion below, the UEs 115 operate on (are “camped” on) amacro or similar network facilitated by multiple “macro” NodeBs 105.Each macro NodeB 105 may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access byterminals with service subscription. The UEs 115 are also registered tooperate on at least one femto network facilitated by a “femto” or “home”NodeB 105 (as described below). It will be appreciated that, while themacro NodeBs 105 may typically be deployed according to network planning(e.g., resulting in the illustrative hexagonal cells 110 shown in FIG.1), a femto NodeB 105 may typically be deployed by individual users (oruser representatives) to create a localized femtocell. The localizedfemtocell does not typically follow the macro network planningarchitecture (e.g., the hexagonal cells), although it may be accountedfor as part of various macro-level network planning and/or managementdecisions (e.g., load balancing, etc.).

The UE 115 may generally operate using an internal power supply, such asa small battery, to facilitate highly mobile operations. Strategicdeployment of network devices, such as femtocells, can mitigate mobiledevice power consumption to some extent. For example, femtocells may beutilized to provide service within areas which might not otherwiseexperience adequate or even any service (e.g., due to capacitylimitations, bandwidth limitations, signal fading, signal shadowing,etc.), thereby allowing client devices to reduce searching times, toreduce transmit power, to reduce transmit times, etc. Femtocells provideservice within a relatively small service area (e.g., within a house orbuilding). Accordingly, a client device is typically disposed near afemtocell when being served, often allowing the client device tocommunicate with reduced transmission power.

For example, the femtocell is implemented as a femto NodeB, referred toherein as a Home Node B (HNB), located in a user premises, such as aresidence, an office building, etc. The location may be chosen formaximum coverage (e.g., in a centralized location), to allow access to aglobal positioning satellite (GPS) signal (e.g., near a window), and/orin any other useful location. For the sake of clarity, the disclosureherein assumes that a set of UEs 115 are registered for (e.g., on awhitelist of) a single HNB that provides coverage over substantially anentire user premises. The HNB provides the UEs 115 with access tocommunication services over the macro network. As used herein, the macronetwork is assumed to be a wireless wide-area network (WWAN). As such,terms like “macro network” and “WWAN network” are interchangeable.Similar techniques may be applied to other types of network environmentswithout departing from the scope of the disclosure or claims.

In example configurations, the HNB is integrated with one or moreout-of-band (OOB) proxies as a femto-proxy system. As used herein,“out-of-band,” or “OOB,” includes any type of communications that areout of band with respect to the WWAN link. For example, the OOB proxiesand/or the UEs 115 may be configured to operate using Bluetooth (e.g.,class 1, class 1.5, and/or class 2), ZigBee (e.g., according to the IEEE802.15.4-2003 wireless standard), WiFi, and/or any other useful type ofcommunications out of the macro network band. Notably, OOB integrationwith the HNB may provide a number of features, including, for example,reduced interference, lower power femto discovery, etc.

Further, the integration of OOB functionality with the HNB may allow theUEs 115 attached to the HNB to also be part of an OOB piconet. Thepiconet may facilitate enhanced HNB functionality, other communicationsservices, power management functionality, and/or other features to theUEs 115. These and other features will be further appreciated from thedescription below.

FIG. 2A shows a block diagram of a wireless communications system 200 athat includes a femto-proxy system 290 a. The femto-proxy system 290 aincludes a femto-proxy module 240 a, a HNB 230 a, and a communicationsmanagement subsystem 250. The HNB 230 a may be a femto NodeB 105, asdescribed with reference to FIG. 1. The femto-proxy system 290 a alsoincludes antennas 205, a transceiver module 210, memory 215, and aprocessor module 225, which each may be in communication, directly orindirectly, with each other (e.g., over one or more buses). Thetransceiver module 210 is configured to communicate bi-directionally,via the antennas 205, with the UEs 115. The transceiver module 210(and/or other components of the femto-proxy system 290 a) is alsoconfigured to communicate bi-directionally with a macro communicationsnetwork 100 a (e.g., a WWAN). For example, the transceiver module 210 isconfigured to communicate with the macro communications network 100 avia a backhaul network. The macro communications network 100 a may bethe communications system 100 of FIG. 1.

The memory 215 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 215 may also store computer-readable,computer-executable software code 220 containing instructions that areconfigured to, when executed, cause the processor module 225 to performvarious functions described herein (e.g., call processing, databasemanagement, message routing, etc.). Alternatively, the software 220 maynot be directly executable by the processor module 225, but may beconfigured to cause the computer, e.g., when compiled and executed, toperform functions described herein.

The processor module 225 may include an intelligent hardware device,e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) such as those made by Intel®Corporation or AMD®, a microcontroller, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor module 225 may include aspeech encoder (not shown) configured to receive audio via a microphone,convert the audio into packets (e.g., 30 ms in length) representative ofthe received audio, provide the audio packets to the transceiver module210, and provide indications of whether a user is speaking.Alternatively, an encoder may only provide packets to the transceivermodule 210, with the provision or withholding/suppression of the packetitself providing the indication of whether a user is speaking.

The transceiver module 210 may include a modem configured to modulatethe packets and provide the modulated packets to the antennas 205 fortransmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antennas 205.While some examples of the femto-proxy system 290 a may include a singleantenna 205, the femto-proxy system 290 a preferably includes multipleantennas 205 for multiple links. For example, one or more links may beused to support macro communications with the UEs 115. Also, one or moreout-of-band links may be supported by the same antenna 205 or differentantennas 205.

Notably, the femto-proxy system 290 a is configured to provide both HNB230 a and femto-proxy module 240 a functionality. For example, when theUE 115 approaches the femtocell coverage area, the UE's 115 OOB radiomay begin searching for the OOB femto-proxy module 240 a. Upondiscovery, the UE 115 may have a high level of confidence that it is inproximity to the femtocell coverage area, and a scan for the HNB 230 acan commence.

The scan for the HNB 230 a may be implemented in different ways. Forexample, due to the femto-proxy module 240 a discovery by the UE's 115OOB radio, both the UE 115 and the femto-proxy system 290 a may be awareof each other's proximity. The UE 115 scans for the HNB 230 a.Alternatively, the HNB 230 a polls for the UE 115 (e.g., individually,or as part of a round-robin polling of all registered UEs 115), and theUE 115 listens for the poll. When the scan for the HNB 230 a issuccessful, the UE 115 may attach to the HNB 230 a.

When the UE 115 is in the femtocell coverage area and attached to theHNB 230 a, the UE 115 may be in communication with the macrocommunications network 100 a via the HNB 230 a. As described above, theUE 115 may also be a slave of a piconet for which the femto-proxy module240 a acts as the master. For example, the piconet may operate usingBluetooth and may include Bluetooth communications links facilitated bya Bluetooth radio (e.g., implemented as part of the transceiver module210) in the HNB 230 a.

Examples of the HNB 230 a have various configurations of base station orwireless access point equipment. As used herein, the HNB 230 a may be adevice that communicates with various terminals (e.g., client devices(UEs 115, etc.), proximity agent devices, etc.) and may also be referredto as, and include some or all the functionality of, a base station, aNode B, and/or other similar devices. Although referred to herein as theHNB 230 a, the concepts herein are applicable to access pointconfigurations other than femtocell configuration (e.g., picocells,microcells, etc.). Examples of the HNB 230 a utilize communicationfrequencies and protocols native to a corresponding cellular network(e.g., the macro communications network 100 a, or a portion thereof) tofacilitate communication within a femtocell coverage area associatedwith the HNB 230 a (e.g., to provide improved coverage of an area, toprovide increased capacity, to provide increased bandwidth, etc.).

The HNB 230 a may be in communication with other interfaces notexplicitly shown in FIG. 2A. For example, the HNB 230 a may be incommunication with a native cellular interface as part of thetransceiver module 210 (e.g., a specialized transceiver utilizingcellular network communication techniques that may consume relativelylarge amounts of power in operation) for communicating with variousappropriately configured devices, such as the UE 115, through a nativecellular wireless link (e.g., an “in band” communication link). Such acommunication interface may operate according to various communicationstandards, including but not limited to wideband code division multipleaccess (W-CDMA), CDMA2000, global system for mobile telecommunication(GSM), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMax), andwireless LAN (WLAN). Also or alternatively, the HNB 230 a may be incommunication with one or more backend network interfaces as part of thetransceiver module 210 (e.g., a backhaul interface providingcommunication via the Internet, a packet switched network, a switchednetwork, a radio network, a control network, a wired link, and/or thelike) for communicating with various devices or other networks.

As described above, the HNB 230 a may further be in communication withone or more OOB interfaces as part of the transceiver module 210 and/orthe femto-proxy module 240 a. For example, the OOB interfaces mayinclude transceivers that consume relatively low amounts of power inoperation and/or may cause less interference in the in-band spectrumwith respect to the in-band transceivers. Such an OOB interface may beutilized according to embodiments to provide low power wirelesscommunications with respect to various appropriately configured devices,such as an OOB radio of the UE 115. The OOB interface may, for example,provide a Bluetooth link, an ultra-wideband (UWB) link, an IEEE 802.11(WLAN) link, etc.

The terms “high power” and “low power” as used herein are relative termsand do not imply a particular level of power consumption. Accordingly,OOB devices (e.g., OOB femto-proxy module 240 a) may simply consume lesspower than native cellular interface (e.g., for macro WWANcommunications) for a given time of operation. In some implementations,OOB interfaces also provide relatively lower bandwidth communications,relatively shorter range communication, and/or consume relatively lowerpower in comparison to the macro communications interfaces. There is nolimitation that the OOB devices and interfaces be low power, shortrange, and/or low bandwidth. Devices may use any suitable out-of-bandlink, whether wireless or otherwise, such as IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth,PEANUT, UWB, ZigBee, a wired link, etc.

Femto-proxy modules 240 a may provide various types of OOB functionalityand may be implemented in various ways. A femto-proxy module 240 a mayhave any of various configurations, such as a stand-aloneprocessor-based system, a processor-based system integrated with a hostdevice (e.g., access point, gateway, router, switch, repeater, hub,concentrator, etc.), etc. For example, the femto-proxy modules 240 a mayinclude various types of interfaces for facilitating various types ofcommunications.

Some femto-proxy modules 240 a include one or more OOB interfaces aspart of the transceiver module 210 (e.g., a transceiver that may consumerelatively low amounts of power in operation and/or may cause lessinterference than in the in-band spectrum) for communicating with otherappropriately configured devices (e.g., UE 115) for providinginterference mitigation and/or femtocell selection herein through awireless link. One example of a suitable communication interface is aBluetooth-compliant transceiver that uses a time-division duplex (TDD)scheme.

Femto-proxy modules 240 a may also include one or more backend networkinterfaces as part of the transceiver module 210 (e.g., packet switchednetwork interface, switched network interface, radio network interface,control network interface, a wired link, and/or the like) forcommunicating with various devices or networks. A femto-proxy module 240a that is integrated within a host device, such as with HNB 230 a, mayutilize an internal bus or other such communication interface in thealternative to a backend network interface to provide communicationsbetween the femto-proxy module 240 a and other devices, if desired.Additionally or alternatively, other interfaces, such as OOB interfaces,native cellular interfaces, etc., may be utilized to providecommunication between the femto-proxy module 240 a and the HNB 230 aand/or other devices or networks.

Various communications functions (e.g., including those of the HNB 230 aand/or the femto-proxy module 240 a) may be managed using thecommunications management subsystem 250. For example, the communicationsmanagement subsystem 250 may at least partially handle communicationswith the macro (e.g., WWAN) network, one or more OOB networks (e.g.,piconets, UE 115 OOB radios, other femto-proxies, OOB beacons, etc.),one or more other femtocells (e.g., HNBs 230), UEs 115, etc. Forexample, the communications management subsystem 250 may be a componentof the femto-proxy system 290 a in communication with some or all of theother components of the femto-proxy system 290 a via a bus.

Various other architectures are possible other than those illustrated byFIG. 2A. The HNB 230 a and femto-proxy module 240 a may or may not becollocated, integrated into a single device, configured to sharecomponents, etc. For example, the femto-proxy system 290 a of FIG. 2Ahas an integrated HNB 230 a and femto-proxy module 240 a that at leastpartially share components, including the antennas 205, the transceivermodule 210, the memory 215, and the processor module 225.

FIG. 2B shows a block diagram of a wireless communications system 200 bthat includes an architecture of a femto-proxy system 290 b that isdifferent from the architecture shown in FIG. 2A. Similar to thefemto-proxy system 290 a, the femto-proxy system 290 b includes afemto-proxy module 240 b and a HNB 230 b. Unlike the system 290 a,however, each of the femto-proxy module 240 b and the HNB 230 b has itsown antenna 205, transceiver module 210, memory 215, and processormodule 225. Both transceiver modules 210 are configured to communicatebi-directionally, via their respective antennas 205, with UEs 115. Thetransceiver module 210-1 of the HNB 230 b is illustrated inbi-directional communication with the macro communications network 100 b(e.g., typically over a backhaul network).

For the sake of illustration, the femto-proxy system 290 b is shownwithout a separate communications management subsystem 250. In someconfigurations, a communications management subsystem 250 is provided inboth the femto-proxy module 240 b and the HNB 230 b. In otherconfigurations, the communications management subsystem 250 isimplemented as part of the femto-proxy module 240 b. In still otherconfigurations, functionality of the communications management subsystem250 is implemented as a computer program product (e.g., stored assoftware 220-1 in memory 215-1) of one or both of the femto-proxy module240 b and the HNB 230 b.

In yet other configurations, some or all of the functionality of thecommunications management subsystem 250 is implemented as a component ofthe processor module 225. For example, the processor module 225 a mayinclude a WWAN communications controller and a user equipmentcontroller, and may be in communication (e.g., as illustrated in FIGS.2A and 2B) with the HNB 230 and the femto-proxy module 240. In anexemplary configuration, the WWAN communications controller isconfigured to receive a WWAN communication for a designated UE 115. Theuser equipment controller 320 determines how to handle thecommunication, including affecting operation of the HNB 230 and/or thefemto-proxy module 240.

Both the HNB 230 a of FIG. 2A and the HNB 230 b of FIG. 2B areillustrated as providing a communications link only to the macrocommunications network 100 a. However, the HNB 230 may providecommunications functionality via many different types of networks and/ortopologies. For example, the HNB 230 may provide a wireless interfacefor a cellular telephone network, a cellular data network, a local areanetwork (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network(WAN), the public switched telephone network (PSTN), the Internet, etc.

FIG. 3 shows detail regarding an exemplary femtocell (HNB) deployment ina Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network. Forexample, the illustrative architecture shows a 3GPP deployment, whichmay include portions of the communications systems and networks shown inFIGS. 1-2B. As illustrated, a UE 115 is in communication with a HNB 230deployed as part of consumer premises equipment (CPE). The CPEfacilitates communications with a security gateway through the publicnetwork infrastructure (e.g., the Internet), which further providesaccess to the HNB's gateway (HNB-GW) and the HNB's management system.

For example, the HNB 230 supports NodeB and RNC-like functions. Itconnects to the UEs 115 via existing “Uu” interface and to the HNB-GWvia a new “Iu-h” interface and may typically be owned by an end user.The HNB-GW concentrates HNB 230 connections (many-to-one relationshipbetween HNBs and HNB-GW) and presents itself as a single RNC to the corenetwork using the existing “Iu” interface. This may allow for scaling tolarge numbers of HNBs 230, and may avoid new interfaces and HNB-specificfunctions at the core network. The HNB management system may provisionHNB configuration data remotely (e.g., using the TR-069 family ofstandards). The security gateway may authenticate the HNB 230, and/ormay use “IPSec” to provide a secure link between the HNB 230 and theHNB-GW (e.g., over “Iu-h”) and between the HNB 230 and the HNBmanagement system (e.g., using a single or different security gateways).

As described above, the femto-proxy systems 290 are configured tocommunicate with client devices, including the UEs 115. FIGS. 4A and 4Bshow exemplary configurations of UEs 115. Turning to FIG. 4A, a blockdiagram 400 a of a mobile user equipment (UE) 115 a for use with thefemto-proxy systems 290 of FIGS. 2A and 2B in the context of thecommunications systems and networks of FIGS. 1-3 is shown. The UE 115 amay have any of various configurations, such as personal computers(e.g., laptop computers, netbook computers, tablet computers, etc.),cellular telephones, PDAs, digital video recorders (DVRs), internetappliances, gaming consoles, e-readers, etc. For the purpose of clarity,the UE 115 a is assumed to be provided in a mobile configuration, havingan internal power supply (not shown), such as a small battery, tofacilitate mobile operation.

The UE 115 a includes an in-band communications subsystem 430 a incommunication with an in-band antenna 405 a, an OOB communicationssubsystem 435 a in communication with an OOB antenna 407 a, acommunications management subsystem 440 a, memory 415, and a processormodule 425 a, which each may be in communication, directly orindirectly, with each other (e.g., via one or more buses). The in-bandcommunications subsystem 430 a and the OOB communications subsystem 435a are each configured to communicate bi-directionally, via theirrespective in-band antenna 405 a and OOB antenna 407 a, and/or via oneor more wired or wireless links, with one or more networks, as describedabove.

In some configurations, the in-band communications subsystem 430 acommunicates bi-directionally with NodeBs 105 of the macrocommunications network (e.g., the communications system 100 of FIG. 1)and with at least one HNB 230. The in-band communications subsystem 430a communicates over at least one in-band link. For example, one or moreWWAN channels (e.g., frequencies) are used to communicate withmacrocells, femtocells, etc. As described more fully below, the in-bandcommunications subsystem 430 a may be tuned in to a particular WWANchannel over which active communications are conducted. The in-bandcommunications subsystem 430 a may tune away to other WWAN channels tomake inter-frequency and/or inter-RAT measurements, as desired.

Configurations of the OOB communications subsystem 435 a are configuredto communicate over one or more OOB links. For example, the UE 115 acommunicates with a femto-proxy system 290 (e.g., as described withreference to FIGS. 2A and 2B) over both an in-band (e.g., WWAN) link tothe HNB 230 and at least one OOB link to the femto-proxy module 240. Thein-band communications subsystem 430 a and the in-band antenna 405 a areused for the WWAN communications, and the OOB communications subsystem435 a and the OOB antenna 407 a are used for the OOB communications.Each communications subsystem may include a modem configured to modulatethe packets and provide the modulated packets to the respective antennas(i.e., 405 a and 407 a) for transmission, and to demodulate packetsreceived via the respective antennas.

Notably, in some configurations, components of the communicationssubsystems are combined (e.g., shared, integrated, etc.). For example,the UE 115 a may include a single antenna that can be used for bothin-band and OOB communications. Similarly, a single modem and/or otherdevices may be used by both the in-band communications subsystem 430 aand the OOB communications subsystem 435 a.

The memory 415 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 415 may store computer-readable,computer-executable software code 420 containing instructions that areconfigured to, when executed, cause the processor module 425 a toperform various functions described herein (e.g., call processing,database management, message routing, etc.). Alternatively, the software420 may not be directly executable by the processor module 425 a but beconfigured to cause the computer, e.g., when compiled and executed, toperform functions described herein.

The processor module 425 a may include an intelligent hardware device,e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) such as those made by Intel®Corporation or AMD®, a microcontroller, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor module 425 a may include aspeech encoder (not shown) configured to receive audio via a microphone,convert the audio into packets (e.g., 30 ms in length) representative ofthe received audio, provide the audio packets to one or more of thecommunications subsystems, and provide indications of whether a user isspeaking. Alternatively, an encoder may only provide packets to thecommunications subsystems, with the provision or withholding/suppressionof the packet itself providing the indication of whether a user isspeaking.

According to the architecture of FIG. 4A, the UE 115 a further includesa communications management subsystem 440. The communications managementsubsystem 440 may manage communications with the macro (e.g., WWAN)network, one or more OOB networks (e.g., piconets, femto-proxy modules240, etc.), one or more femtocells (e.g., HNBs 230), other UEs 115(e.g., acting as a master of a secondary piconet), etc. For example, thecommunications management subsystem 440 may be a component of the UE 115a in communication with some or all of the other components of the UE115 a via a bus. Alternatively, functionality of the communicationsmanagement subsystem 440 is implemented as a computer program product,and/or as one or more controller elements of the processor module 425.

The UE 115 a includes communications functionality for interfacing withboth the macro (e.g., cellular) network and one or more OOB networks(e.g., the femto-proxy module 240 link). For example, some UEs 115include native cellular interfaces as part of the in-band communicationssubsystem 430 a or the communications management subsystem 440 (e.g., atransceiver utilizing cellular network communication techniques thatconsume relatively large amounts of power in operation) forcommunicating with other appropriately configured devices (e.g., forestablishing a link with a macro communication network via HNB 230)through a native cellular wireless link. The native cellular interfacesmay operate according to one or more communication standards, including,but not limited to, W-CDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, WiMax, and WLAN.

Furthermore, the UEs 115 may also include OOB interfaces implemented aspart of the OOB communications subsystem 435 a and/or the communicationsmanagement subsystem 440 (e.g., a transceiver that may consumerelatively low amounts of power in operation and/or may cause lessinterference than in the in-band spectrum) for communicating with otherappropriately configured devices over a wireless link. One example of asuitable OOB communication interface is a Bluetooth-complianttransceiver that uses a time-division duplex (TDD) scheme.

According to exemplary configurations of UEs 115, like the oneillustrated in FIG. 400 a, the in-band communications subsystem 430 a isconfigured to communicatively couple with a femtocell (e.g., HNB 230)over a WWAN link on a first WWAN channel and to communicate with atleast one macrocell (e.g., macro NodeB 105) over the WWAN link on asecond WWAN channel. The OOB communications subsystem 435 a isconfigured to communicatively couple with an OOB femto-proxy 240 over anOOB link. The communications management subsystem 440 a iscommunicatively coupled with the in-band communications subsystem 430 aand the OOB communications subsystem 435 a, and is configured to performvarious functions in support of compressed mode operations, as describedbelow.

FIG. 4B shows a block diagram 400 b of another configuration of a mobileuser equipment (UE) 115 b for use with the femto-proxy systems 290 ofFIGS. 2A and 2B in the context of the communications systems andnetworks of FIGS. 1-3. The configuration of the UE 115 b illustrated inFIG. 4B provides similar or identical functionality to the configurationof the UE 115 a illustrated in FIG. 4A, except that much of thefunctionality is implemented as controllers of the processor 425 b,rather than as subsystems.

In particular, the UE 115 b includes an in-band communicationscontroller 430 b in communication with an in-band antenna 405 b, an OOBcommunications controller 435 b in communication with an OOB antenna 407b, and a communications management controller 440 b, all implemented aspart of the processor module 425 b. The processor module 425 b may be incommunication, directly or indirectly, with a memory 415 (e.g., via oneor more buses).

According to exemplary configurations of UEs 115, like the oneillustrated in FIG. 4B, the in-band communications controller 430 a isconfigured to communicatively couple with a femtocell (e.g., HNB 230)over a WWAN link on a first WWAN channel and to communicate with atleast one macrocell (e.g., macro NodeB 105) over the WWAN link on asecond WWAN channel. The OOB communications controller 435 a isconfigured to communicatively couple with an OOB femto-proxy 240 over anOOB link. The communications management controller 440 a iscommunicatively coupled with the in-band communications subsystem 430 aand the OOB communications subsystem 435 a, and is configured to performvarious functions in support of compressed mode operations, as describedbelow.

Compressed Mode Operations

Compressed modes of operation are used by UEs 115 to make measurements,when desired, for example, to determine suitable target cells forhandoffs, etc. Many UMTS femtocell deployments are dedicated frequencydeployments where femtocells and macrocells are deployed on differentfrequencies. For such deployments, the Femto UEs (referred to herein asUEs 115, when the UEs 115 are attached to a serving femtocell) have todo inter-frequency and/or inter-RAT measurements when the servingfemtocell's signal strength (e.g., CPICH Ec/Io) drops below a certainthreshold (e.g., the S_intersearch threshold). For example, themeasurements may be needed to determine whether handoffs are required,to determine suitable target cells for handoffs, etc.

Typically, UEs 115 are configured to communicate only on a single WWANchannel (e.g., WCDMA carrier frequency) at any given time. Accordingly,in order to make the inter-frequency measurements, the UEs 115 tune awayfrom the current WWAN channel (where femtocell is deployed) to make themeasurements on the different WWAN channel. It is generally desirable tomaintain a target data rate at a target data quality. Each data packetincludes a payload portion and a redundancy portion, and the amount ofredundancy is configured to provide certain data quality. For example, alarger amount of redundancy at a given instantaneous transmit power mayreduce the number of retransmissions needed, the average bit error rate,etc. To allow the UE 115 time to tune away from the current WWAN channelwhile still maintaining a target data rate, techniques may be used forcompressing the data communications.

In the so-called compressed mode, transmission and reception are stoppedfor a short time and the measurements are performed on another frequencyor another RAT in that time. For the sake of illustration and clarity,the communications over the WWAN link when not in compressed mode can beconsidered as having data frames of certain duration, where a certainamount of data is communicated during each frame (e.g., to satisfy thetarget data rate). During compressed mode operations, the data framesmay be compressed to make room for interspersed (e.g., periodic)measurement blocks. For example, the measurement blocks are effectivelygaps in the data transmissions. The measurement blocks may be configuredto have a duration that is long enough to support tuning away from thecurrent WWAN channel, making one or more measurements (typically ameasurement on a single WWAN channel per measurement block), and tuningback to the active WWAN channel.

It will be appreciated that various techniques are possible forimplementing frames. For example, in some configurations, each dataframe includes a number of slots, and 1 to 7 slots per data frame can beallocated as a measurement block for the UE 115 to performinter-frequency measurements. Further, the slots designated for themeasurement block can be in the middle of a single data frame, spreadover two data frames, etc.

Conventionally, because of bandwidth and/or other constraints,compressed mode operations involve reducing the amount of payload and/orredundancy data being communicated. For example, a spreading factor maybe decreased (e.g., by a factor of 2) to increase the data rate so bitswill get sent twice as fast, bits may be “punctured” by removing variousbits from the original data to reduce the amount of information thatneeds to be transmitted, or higher layer scheduling can be changed touse fewer timeslots for user traffic. It will be appreciated thatattempting to send the same amount of data in a smaller amount of timemay limit the amount of redundancy data that may be communicated, whichmay reduce the quality (e.g., fidelity) of the data. Accordingly, theinstantaneous transmit power may be increased in the compressed frame inan attempt to maintain satisfaction of the quality target (BLER, FER,etc.) in light of reduced processing gain. The amount of power increasemay depend on the compression technique used.

In many typical femto deployments, the transmit power of the femtocellis capped. Accordingly, it may be difficult or impossible to increasethe transmit power to a level that is sufficient to compensate for thedata compression. For example, transmitting with higher transmit powerduring compressed data frames may increase interference between thefemtocell and any neighboring macrocells and femtocells, especiallythose on the same frequency (note that macrocells sharing a frequencywith the femtocell could belong to a different RAT, as well).

Limitations of conventional compressed mode operations may be furtherimpacted by additional signaling needed to support the compressed mode.For example, signaling may be needed to dictate when and how measurementblocks are interspersed among data frames (e.g., if measurement blocksoccur periodically, if measurement blocks are requested on demand,etc.). The rate and type of compressed frames may be variable and maydepend on the environment and on various measurement requirements. Theadded signaling data may further reduce the amount of resourcesavailable for communicating payload data, which may require, forexample, further data compression, further transmit power increases,etc.

FIGS. 5-9E describe various novel techniques for using an OOB link toaddress certain limitations of conventional compressed mode operations.These techniques may be implemented, for example, using UEs 115 likethose described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, in communication withfemto-proxy systems 290, like those described with reference to FIGS. 2Aand 2B. According to various embodiments, certain conventionalcommunications are implemented between the in-band communicationssubsystem 430 a of the UE 115 and the HNB 230 of the femto-proxy system290, and supplemental communications are implemented to supportcompressed mode operations over the OOB link between the OOBcommunications subsystem 435 a of the UE 115 and the OOB femto-proxy 240of the femto-proxy system 290.

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method 500 for usingmultiple communications modes to support inter-frequency and/orinter-RAT measurements. The method 500 begins at stage 504 when a UE iscommunicating with a femtocell over a WWAN link on first WWAN channelaccording to a first communications mode at a data rate in satisfactionof a rate target and at a data quality in satisfaction of a qualitytarget. For example, a UE 115 is communicating with a HNB 230 of afemto-proxy system 290 over the WWAN link according to a normal (i.e.,uncompressed) communications mode.

At stage 508, a determination is made as to whether a measurementtrigger condition has been detected. For example, it may be desirablefor the UE 115 to perform inter-frequency measurements when the servingfemtocells signal strength (CPICH Ec/Io) drops below a predeterminedS_intersearch threshold. If it is determined at stage 508 that nomeasurement trigger condition has been detected, the UE 115 may continueto communicate according to the first communications mode (e.g.,according to stage 504).

If it is determined at stage 508 that a measurement trigger conditionhas been detected, the UE 115 may be switched to communicate accordingto a second communications mode at stage 512. For example, the UE 115may enter a compressed mode of operation, whereby data communicationsare compressed to make room for interspersed measurement blocks. Atstage 516, according to the second (e.g., compressed) communicationsmode, the UE 115 performs inter-frequency and/or inter-RAT measurements.For example, each measurement block is long enough to allow the UE 115to tune away from the serving femtocell's WWAN channel, measure signalstrength on a different WWAN channel, and tune back to the servingfemtocell's WWAN channel.

At stage 520, a determination is made as to whether measurements nolonger need to be made. For example, the signal strength on the currentchannel may rise above a predetermined threshold level before anyhandoff occurs, a handoff may occur, etc. If it is determined at stage520 that measurements still need to be made, additional inter-frequencyand/or inter-RAT measurements are made at stage 516.

If it is determined at stage 520 that no more measurements need to bemade, the method 500 may proceed in various ways. For example, asillustrated, a determination may be made at stage 524 as to whether ahandoff is required according to the measurements made in stage 520. Ifa handoff is required, a handoff routine may commence at stage 528,Otherwise, the UE 115 may switch back to operating in the first(non-compressed mode) communications mode at stage 504.

As described above, embodiments include various novel approaches tocompressed mode operations. FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of an exemplarymethod 600 for using OOB communications to facilitate compressed modeoperations. For the sake of clarity, the method is shown in context ofstages 504 and 512 of FIG. 5. In particular, the method 600 may begin atstage 504 when a UE 115 is communicating with a femtocell over a WWANlink on first WWAN channel according to a first communications mode at adata rate in satisfaction of a rate target and at a data quality insatisfaction of a quality target.

Unlike the determination at stage 508 shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed inthe context of the method 600 of FIG. 6 that a measurement triggercondition is detected by the UE 115 while communicating in the firstcommunications mode at stage 608. Accordingly, at stage 512, the UE 115may be switched to communicate according to a second communicationsmode. As described above, the second communications mode is a type ofcompressed mode of operation, whereby data communications are compressedto make room for interspersed measurement blocks.

At stage 616, measurement blocks are interspersed with data frames, suchthat the UE communicates with the femtocell over the WWAN link on thefirst WWAN channel during the data frames and performs measurements onat least a second WWAN channel during the measurement blocks.Interspersing of measurement blocks may be implemented in a number ofdifferent ways. According to one technique, each data frame includes anumber of slots. In the first communications mode, all these slots areused for data communications, while, in the second communications mode,a portion of the slots (e.g., 1-7 per frame) are used as a measurementblock).

As discussed above, interspersing measurement blocks at stage 616 mayreduce the resources available on the WWAN link for data communications.Accordingly, at stage 620, communications with the femtocell arecompressed over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel by reducing atleast one of the data rate or the data quality. For example, techniqueslike bit puncturing or adjustment of coding or modulation schemes may beused to send substantially the same amount of payload data in a smallereffective data frame (e.g., a data frame having fewer slots, etc.). Someof these techniques are described more fully below.

The reduction in data rate or data quality according to stage 620 maycause undesirable effects, such as a decrease in the amount of data thatcan be communicated during compressed mode operations, or an increase inpacket erasure rate, bit error rate, etc. To avoid or at least mitigatethese undesirable effects, techniques are used to compensate for thereduction in data rate or data quality. As discussed above, conventionaldeployments may increase instantaneous transmit power, which may createother undesirable effects (e.g., increased interference) and/or may notbe sufficient to compensate for the reduction in data rate or dataquality.

At stage 624, supplemental data is communicated between the UE and anout-of-band (OOB) femto-proxy over an OOB link substantiallyconcurrently with communicating with the femtocell over the WWAN link,such that communicating the supplemental data at least partiallycompensates for the reducing at least one of the data rate or the dataquality. In some configurations, more than one OOB link is used (e.g.,concurrently) for communicating the supplemental data. For example, asdescribed with reference to FIG. 4A, the UE 115 a communicates with afemto-proxy system 290 (e.g., as described with reference to FIGS. 2Aand 2B) over both an in-band (e.g., WWAN) link to the HNB 230 and atleast one OOB link to the femto-proxy module 240. The in-bandcommunications subsystem 430 a and the in-band antenna 405 a are usedfor the WWAN communications, and the OOB communications subsystem 435 aand the OOB antenna 407 a are used for the OOB communications ofsupplemental data in support of the compressed mode operations.Alternatively, multiple OOB antennae 407 can be used to support multipleconcurrent OOB links (e.g., Bluetooth and Zigbee).

Various techniques for using the OOB link to provide supplemental datain support of the compressed mode operations are illustrated in FIGS.7A-7C. FIG. 7A shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method 700 a forusing OOB communications to communicate signaling data in support ofcompressed mode operations. For the sake of context, the method 700 a isshown beginning at stage 512, when the UE 115 is communicating in thesecond communications mode (e.g., compressed mode) in response todetecting a measurement trigger condition.

At stage 704, signaling data is generated to facilitate communicationsby the user equipment according to the second mode. For example,signaling data can be used in compressed mode to define what frames arecompressed; a rate, periodicity, and/or type of compressed frames, arequest for on-demand compressed frames, etc. At stage 616, measurementblocks are interspersed with data frames according to the signaling datagenerated in stage 704.

Data communications over the WWAN link may be compressed at stage 620.According to some techniques, compression of the data communications isimplemented in a conventional way (e.g., by compressing data intosmaller frames with less redundancy and increasing instantaneoustransmit power as a compensatory technique). According to othertechniques, compression of the data communications is implemented insuch a way that substantially the same amount of payload data iscommunicated in a smaller amount of time (e.g., by reducing redundancy,and thereby reducing the data quality) without increasing instantaneoustransmit power to compensate for the reduction in data quality.According to still other techniques, compression of the datacommunications is implemented in such a way that data communicationsover the WWAN link are effectively halted during measurement blocks(e.g., thereby reducing the data rate).

According to some embodiments of stage 624 of FIG. 6 (illustrated asstage 624 a in FIG. 7A), at least a portion of the signaling data iscommunicated over the OOB link at stage 708. For example, as describedabove, the added signaling data may further impact resources availableon the WWAN link for data communications. Accordingly, the method 700 auses the OOB link to communicate the added signaling data, therebyleaving the WWAN link for the compressed data communications only.

FIG. 7B shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method 700 b for using OOBcommunications to communicate retransmissions and/or similarsupplemental data in support of compressed mode operations. As in FIG.7A, for the sake of context, the method 700 b is shown beginning atstage 512, when the UE 115 is communicating in the second communicationsmode (e.g., compressed mode) in response to detecting a measurementtrigger condition. Also as in FIG. 7A, some configurations of the method700 b include generation of compressed mode signaling data at stage 704and communication of at least some of the signaling data over the OOBlink at stage 708.

For the sake of clarity, the method is shown in the context of stages616-624 of FIG. 6. Measurement blocks are interspersed with data framesat stage 616, data communications over the WWAN link are compressed tomake room for the measurement blocks at stage 620, and supplemental datais communicated over the OOB link in support of the compressed modeoperations at stage 624.

According to the technique of FIG. 7B, compressing communications withthe femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel (illustratedas 620 b) involves reducing the data quality by reducing the redundancyportion of the data at stage 712. As used herein, the “redundancy data”or “redundancy portion of the data” is intended to generally refer toany bits used to reinforce the data transmission for more reliablecommunications. This may typically include redundant bits and/or datathat can be used to derive redundant bits using defined algorithms. Oneillustrative technique uses bit puncturing to reduce the amount of databeing transmitted. Another illustrative technique selects a higher ordermodulation scheme and/or coding scheme that uses a smaller amount ofredundancy data (e.g., forward error correction (FEC) data, etc.).

Compressing the data communications according to stage 712 may allowsubstantially continued satisfaction of the data rate target at theexpense of a reduction in data quality. For example, a reduction inredundancy data may cause fewer packets to be successfully delivered.Rather than increasing instantaneous transmit power to compensate forthese effects (e.g., or rather than increasing instantaneous transmitpower to the same extent as in conventional deployments), the OOB linkcan be used to compensate for the reduction in data quality.

Notably, the total data rate will certainly be reduced by reducing theredundancy. However, the data rate target is concerned with the“goodput,” or the effective throughput. This goodput can be increased ormaintained without sending more redundant bits, so long as othercompensatory techniques are used. Accordingly, reference to increasingor maintaining the “data rate” herein is intended to suggest increasingor maintaining the goodput. For example, maintaining the data rateaccording to stage 712 corresponds to maintaining the amount of desiredpayload data that is successfully delivered, even though the totalamount of sent data is reduced.

Compensatory use of the OOB link according to the method 700 b isillustrated as stage 624 b. For example, it may be assumed that thereduction in data quality will cause an increase in the amount ofretransmissions and/or other compensatory data needed to satisfy thequality target. At stage 716, retransmissions are communicated over theOOB link to at least partially compensate for the reducing of the dataquality. As used herein, “retransmissions” is used to generally includeany type of compensatory data that may be useful for improving the dataquality (e.g., FEC data, punctured bits, etc.). Further, as discussedabove, the need for additional signaling data (according to stage 704)may place additional resource burdens on the compressed modecommunications. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the compensatory useof the OOB link (according to stage 624 b) also includes communicationof at least some signaling data over the OOB link at stage 708.

FIG. 7C shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method 700 c for using OOBcommunications to communicate portions of data not communicated over theWWAN link in support of compressed mode operations. As in FIGS. 7A and7B, for the sake of context, the method 700 c is shown beginning atstage 512, when the UE 115 is communicating in the second communicationsmode (e.g., compressed mode) in response to detecting a measurementtrigger condition. Also as in FIGS. 7A and 7B, some configurations ofthe method 700 c include generation of compressed mode signaling data atstage 704 and communication of at least some of the signaling data overthe OOB link at stage 708.

For the sake of clarity, the method is shown in the context of stages616-624 of FIG. 6. Measurement blocks are interspersed with data framesat stage 616, data communications over the WWAN link are compressed tomake room for the measurement blocks at stage 620, and supplemental datais communicated over the OOB link in support of the compressed modeoperations at stage 624.

According to the technique of FIG. 7C, compressing communications withthe femtocell over the WWAN link on the first WWAN channel (illustratedas 620 c) involves communicating data with the femtocell only during thedata frames and without substantially changing the data quality, suchthat only a first portion of the data can be communicated over the WWANlink at stage 720. For example, in the first communications mode, eachdata frame includes a number of slots, and a certain amount of data iscommunicated at a certain fidelity during each slot. In the secondcommunications mode (e.g., compressed mode), the number of framesavailable for data communications is decreased to make room formeasurement blocks (e.g., according to stage 612). In the reduced numberof data communications slots, data continues to be communicated atsubstantially the same rate and fidelity, causing the overall data rateto be reduced (i.e., due to fewer slots being available for thecommunications).

Compensatory use of the OOB link according to the method 700 c isillustrated as stage 624 c. For example, suppose a certain amount ofdata would be communicated over a certain amount of time and at acertain fidelity according to the first communications mode, but only aportion of the data is communicated over the same amount of time at thesame fidelity according to the second communications mode (i.e., as datais not communicated during the measurement blocks and is not otherwisebeing substantially compressed). This may effectively leave a remainingportion of data that is not communicated over the WWAN link (e.g., theportion that would otherwise have been communicated during themeasurement blocks). At stage 724, the remaining portion of the data iscommunicated over the OOB link to at least partially compensate forreducing the data rate. According to various techniques, the remainingportion of the data may be communicated over the OOB link only duringthe measurement blocks, or alternatively, communication of the remainingportion may be spread over a larger and/or or other time duration.Further, as discussed above, the need for additional signaling data(according to stage 704) may place additional resource burdens on thecompressed mode communications. Accordingly, in some embodiments, thecompensatory use of the OOB link (according to stage 624 b) alsoincludes communication of at least some signaling data over the OOB linkat stage 708.

For the sake of added clarity, FIGS. 8A-9E illustrate variousembodiments of compressed mode techniques, with FIGS. 9A-9E focusing onvarious embodiments of the methods 700 of FIGS. 7A-7C. The embodimentsshown are intended only to be illustrative and should not be construedas limiting. Rather, it will be appreciated that the various techniquesdescribed in FIGS. 7A-7C can be used independently or in variouscombinations, and can be modified in various ways without departing fromthe scope of the disclosure or the claims.

Turning to FIG. 8A, a simplified communication diagram 800 a is shownfor data communications over a communications link in a non-compressedmode. As illustrated, data is communicated in data blocks 810. Each datablock 810 may represent a data frame, which may include a number ofslots during which data is communicated at a certain rate and at acertain quality (e.g., fidelity). For the sake of simplicity, each datablock 810 is shown to directly follow a preceding data block 810 of thesame duration. It will be appreciated that various communicationsprotocols and techniques are possible, which may, for example, havedifferent and/or varying data block 810 durations, certain periodsduring which data is not communicated, etc.

FIG. 8B shows a simplified communication diagram 800 b for datacommunications over a communications link in a compressed mode. Asillustrated, data is communicated in compressed data blocks 812 withinterspersed measurement blocks 815. Each compressed data block 812 mayrepresent a data frame having fewer slots than a correspondinguncompressed data block 810 (e.g., with the other slots being used as ameasurement block 815. For the sake of simplicity, each compressed datablock 812 is shown to directly follow a preceding compressed data block812 of the same duration, and measurement blocks 815 are showninterspersed with each compressed data block 812.

It will be appreciated that various compressed mode techniques arepossible, which may, for example, have different and/or varyingcompressed data block 812 durations; different and/or varyingmeasurement block 815 durations, periodicity, etc. (e.g., includingon-demand techniques); certain periods during which data is notcommunicated; etc. As described above, these various compressed modetechniques are typically supported by generation and communication ofsignaling data 820.

According to conventional techniques, non-compressed communicationsmodes as in FIG. 8A and compressed communications modes as in FIG. 8Binvolve data communications only on a WWAN channel (e.g., withmeasurement blocks involving measurements on one or more other WWANchannels). As described above, novel techniques described herein use theOOB link to communicate supplementary data in support of compressed modeoperations. Some such techniques are illustrated in FIGS. 9A-9E.

FIG. 9A shows a simplified communication diagram 900 a for datacommunications over a communications link in a compressed mode, wherethe OOB link is used for communication of retransmissions. Thecommunication diagram 900 a may, for example, represent an embodiment oftechniques, such as those described with reference to FIG. 7B. As inFIG. 8B, data is communicated on the in-band (WWAN) link in compresseddata blocks 812 with interspersed measurement blocks 815. Signaling data820 is also communicated on the in-band link. The OOB link is used tocommunicate retransmissions and/or other types of data to compensate forany reduction in data quality resulting from the use of compressed datablocks 812.

FIG. 9B shows a simplified communication diagram 900 b for datacommunications over a communications link in a compressed mode, wherethe OOB link is used for communication of remaining data notcommunicated over the WWAN link. The communication diagram 900 b may,for example, represent an embodiment of techniques, such as thosedescribed with reference to FIG. 7C. Rather than using compressed datablocks 812 to communicate data over the WWAN link, partial data blocksare used with uncompressed data communications, indicated as partialun-compressed data blocks 910.

For example, each un-compressed data block 810 includes a number ofslots for data communications, and each partial un-compressed data block910 includes fewer slots for data communications. However, the datacommunicated during those slots is communicated at substantially thesame rate and quality for both un-compressed data blocks 810 and partialun-compressed data blocks 910. Accordingly, slots that were used fordata communications in non-compressed mode are now used for measurementblock 815 in compressed mode, and data that would otherwise becommunicated during those slots in non-compressed mode is notcommunicated over the WWAN link. This “remaining” data 935 is, instead,communicated over the OOB link to maintain satisfaction of the overalldata rate target. Notably, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, signaling data 820may also be communicated on the in-band link.

FIG. 9C shows a simplified communication diagram 900 c for datacommunications over a communications link in a compressed mode, wherethe OOB link is used for communication of signaling data. Thecommunication diagram 900 c may, for example, represent an embodiment oftechniques, such as those described with reference to FIG. 7A. As shown,some or all of the signaling data 920 for compressed mode operation iscommunicated over the OOB link, while conventional techniques areotherwise used for compressed mode communications over the WWAN link(e.g., including compressed data blocks 812 with interspersedmeasurement blocks 815.

FIGS. 9D and 9E show simplified communication diagrams 900 d and 900 efor data communications over a communications link in a compressed mode,where the OOB link is used for communication of combinations ofsupplemental data. The communication diagram 900 d of FIG. 9D mayrepresent alternate embodiments of techniques, such as those describedwith reference to FIGS. 7B and 9A. The communication diagram 900 e ofFIG. 9E may represent alternate embodiments of techniques, such as thosedescribed with reference to FIGS. 7C and 9B.

According to the communication diagram 900 d of FIG. 9D, data iscommunicated on the in-band (WWAN) link in compressed data blocks 812with interspersed measurement blocks 815. The OOB link is usedconcurrently to communicate signaling data 920 and retransmissionsand/or other types of data to compensate for any reduction in dataquality resulting from the use of compressed data blocks 812. Accordingto the communication diagram 900 e of FIG. 9E, data is communicated onthe in-band (WWAN) link in partial un-compressed data blocks 910 withinterspersed measurement blocks 815. The OOB link is used concurrentlyto communicate signaling data 920 and “remaining” data 935 (i.e., datathat would otherwise be communicated during those slots being used forthe measurement blocks 815 in compressed mode).

It is worth noting that the diagrams 900 of FIGS. 9A-9E are illustrativeonly and are not intended to show all possible scenarios. For example,in FIG. 9A, retransmissions may be communicated periodically, at avariable data rate as needed, using multiple OOB links concurrently,etc. Similarly, remaining data 935 in FIG. 9B may be communicated in away that takes more or less time than the measurement blocks 815 (e.g.,at different times, as bursts, at different data rates, etc.). Forexample, mismatches between physical rates supported over the WWAN andOOB links may cause there to be more or less remaining data 935 than thecompressed mode measurement gap durations. Accordingly, the “remainingdata” may, in fact, not be an identical dataset to the dataset nototherwise transmitted during the compressed mode measurement blocks 815.

The signaling data 820 shown in FIGS. 9C-9E may similarly becommunicated in a number of different ways not illustrated by thefigures. For example, the signaling data 820 can be communicated inshort bursts, at different data rates, over multiple OOB linksconcurrently or at different times, etc. Further, use of the OOB link tocommunicate the data may affect the amount and type of signaling data820.

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions.The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s)and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, anapplication specific integrate circuit (ASIC), or processor.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedmay be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, adigital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate arraysignal (FPGA), or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate,or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A generalpurpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, theprocessor may be any commercially available processor, controller,microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implementedas a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP anda microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with thepresent disclosure may be embodied directly in hardware, in a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. Asoftware module may reside in any form of tangible storage medium. Someexamples of storage media that may be used include random access memory(RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROM memory, EEPROMmemory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, and soforth. A storage medium may be coupled to a processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. A software module may be a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more actions for achievingthe described method. The method and/or actions may be interchanged withone another without departing from the scope of the claims. In otherwords, unless a specific order of actions is specified, the order and/oruse of specific actions may be modified without departing from the scopeof the claims.

The functions described may be implemented in hardware, software,firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, thefunctions may be stored as one or more instructions on a tangiblecomputer-readable medium. A storage medium may be any available tangiblemedium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other tangible medium that can be usedto carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions ordata structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc,as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-Ray® disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers.

Thus, a computer program product may perform operations presentedherein. For example, such a computer program product may be a computerreadable tangible medium having instructions tangibly stored (and/orencoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or moreprocessors to perform the operations described herein. The computerprogram product may include packaging material.

Software or instructions may also be transmitted over a transmissionmedium. For example, software may be transmitted from a website, server,or other remote source using a transmission medium such as a coaxialcable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL),or wireless technology such as infrared, radio, or microwave.

Further, modules and/or other appropriate means for performing themethods and techniques described herein can be downloaded and/orotherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or base station as applicable.For example, such a device can be coupled to a server to facilitate thetransfer of means for performing the methods described herein.Alternatively, various methods described herein can be provided viastorage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage medium such as a CD orfloppy disk, etc.), such that a user terminal and/or base station canobtain the various methods upon coupling or providing the storage meansto the device. Moreover, any other suitable technique for providing themethods and techniques described herein to a device can be utilized.

Other examples and implementations are within the scope and spirit ofthe disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature ofsoftware, functions described above can be implemented using softwareexecuted by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinationsof any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physicallylocated at various positions, including being distributed such thatportions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list ofitems prefaced by “at least one of” indicates a disjunctive list suchthat, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C” means A or Bor C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Further, the term“exemplary” does not mean that the described example is preferred orbetter than other examples.

Various changes, substitutions, and alterations to the techniquesdescribed herein can be made without departing from the technology ofthe teachings as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope ofthe disclosure and claims is not limited to the particular aspects ofthe process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means,methods, and actions described above. Processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or actions, presently existingor later to be developed, that perform substantially the same functionor achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding aspectsdescribed herein may be utilized. Accordingly, the appended claimsinclude within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or actions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method as described in the foregoingdescription.
 2. User equipment as described in the foregoingdescription.
 3. A processor as described in the foregoing description.4. A computer program product residing on a processor-readable mediumand comprising processor-readable instructions, which, when executed,cause a processor to perform steps, as described in the foregoingdescription.
 5. A system as described in the foregoing description.
 6. Afemto-proxy system as described in the foregoing description.